Wood product and method of producing the same



y 19, 1931- I QB. LIPMAN ETAL 1,305,550

WOOD PRODUCT AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed NOV. 5, 1927 yv roes Char/esfiLlpmam fiaran Gordon. jmmdfifw m A TToe/vE Y6 tion of wharves and Patented May 19, 1931 UNITED sm'nazs PATENT, omen-- GEABLES IB. AARON GORDON, OF BEBIKELE Y, CALIFORNIA, ASSIG NOBS TO THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY QF CALIFORNIA, OI BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

A. CORPORATION. 02 CALII'ORNIA woon raonuor 41m mob or. raonuome m Application fled Novemberj, 1927. Serial No. 231,306.

This invention relates to awood product and a method of producing the same, and embodies improvements and developments in connection with the invention as disclosed in 5 our co-pending application entitled Method of protectin wood with substances toxic .to animal an 7 bacterial life and fun s growths? filed by us September 9, 1926, erial Number 134,57 2.

It has been a continuing problem to prepareor protect wooden articles from the action of animal and bacterial life. This problem hasdemanded considerablethought in connection with pilin used in the construcdocks, and timber used for telephone poles and for railroad ties, etc, and which timbers have been driven into the soil beneath salt water or beneath the soil surface on land and have there been sub-.

Structure of the piling is treated or saturated with tox'icsubs'tances, the action of the salt water'soon renders these substances inert orv washes them from the structure; besides, the penetration has never been more than an inch in depth under such treatments.

It is the principal object of the present invention, therefore, to rovide a method of impregnating the W0 wit a toxic agent, which will be destructive to organic life, and with which is associated another substance actin to fix the toxic agent within the cellular an. 'fibrous structure of the tree, so that when the tree is subsequently cut and tpxrggaredfor use, it will be saturated with a t0x1c a nt which will destroy any animal, bacteria, or fungus life attackinfiqtreated wood.

e present invention contemplates the di- 1 of a live uncut tree rect simultaneous injection of toxic and fixing agents into the vascular system of a living tree, in a manner to insure that these foreign agents will be disseminated throughout the entire tree structure, and will there being a ents may be placed; a conduit leading there om and an injecting nozzle to be inserted into a transverse bore formed in. the

tree.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a view in side elevation showing the application of the present invention.

. Fig. 2 is a view in horizontal transverse section through the trunk of the tree, showing the manner in which the tree is repared and the foreign agents introduced t ereinto.

Referrin more particularly to the" drawings, 10 indicates the trunk of a, tree which is to be subsequentlyused for piling or for likepurposes. Formed transversely of the trunk of the tree 'and extending radially" therethrough is a bore, 11. This may be of any suitable diameter, although for resent urposes we have found thatthe bore ormed y a to inch bit is suflicient. This bore.-

extends substantially three-quarters throu h the trunk of-thetree, and thus intersects t e center of the vascular bundles. After the shavin have been removed a glass tube, 12, is fitte into the bore and forced in a suflicient distance to insure a tight fit. A supply con duit, 13, is connected with-the tube and is led to a sup ly reservoir, 14.-' This reservoir is preferab y disposed some distance above the level of the bore, so. that the'l-iquid within the reservoir may be given a 'sufiicien't .head to insure that the solution will be forced into the vascular system of the tree .and will move along the courses pursued by' the sap of the tree. With the a paratus made .ready, as

shown in the draw 1ngs,.it is then desirablexto V inject a toxic and fixing agent mto the tree simultaneously. In our co-pendin application, above mentioned, this has .notbeen done in a. simultaneous. operation, but by two succlosed.

In the present case we prefer to dissolve freshl prepared copper hydroxide in a solution 0 ammonium hydroxide or other volatile solvent and the resulting blue solution is then poured into the reservoir and allowed to work its way into the conducting vessels and thence into the wood of the tree through the supply conduit, 13, and the pipe, 12,-to the bore, 11 The elevation of the reservoir will determine the hydrostatic head of the liquid, and will cause the liquid gradually to force its way into the tree and be absorbed in the vascular system thereof. When the solution comprising the copper hydroxide dissolved in ammonium hydroxide has been assimilated by the tree, it will be found that upon evaporation of the solvent the toxic agent has become permanently fixed in the cellular structure of the tree, and that it will not be rendered inert, or will not be removed by the action of the elements, or the action of fresh or salt water or of soil within which the article may subsequently be submer ed.

While we have indicated that the solution of copper hydroxide in ammonium hydroxide is the toxic agent employed by us, we also found that copper arsenite, or copper arsenate, Paris green, cupric ferrocyanide, or

other copper salts, may be used in place of copper hydroxide in a similar manner. Upon evaporation of the solvent, the respective solids of the solution are deposited in the tissues thereby imparting to the wood the specific toxicity of the given salt. Instead of ammonium hydroxide as a solvent we may use solutions of potassium tartrate, or acetic acid. The same end is attained when the toxic solution to be injected is made up of a mixture of copper sulphate and arsenic trioxide dissolved in acetic acid. Such a solution on evaporation of the acetic acid leaves the plant tissue impregnated with Paris green and Scheeles green. After the tree has been completely treated, it is felled and trimmed for use as required. If the tree is to be used as a ile, the bark is peeled off and the tree is ot erwise smoothed for driving. It will, of course, be understood that the wood may be used for other purposes, and may be cut into lumber. In any event,

however the toxic agent will remain'within,

uniformly distributed and fixed throughout the structure of the tree, and will act to render the tree impregnable. to the operation of the elements, or to the destructive action of any animal, bacterial or fungus life which attacks the wood. 7

While we have shown the preferred form 7 of our invention as now known to us, it would be understood that various changes might be made in the combination of elements ,used

to form the toxic and fixing solution, andl that variations in the method of injecting the solution into the tree might be employed without departing from the spirit of our invention as claimed.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of protecting wood with a substance toxic to animal and bacteria life and fungus growth, which consists in injecting into a living tree a toxic substance capable of distribution by the sap flow of the tree and permitting the toxic substance to be distributed throughout the entire cellular and fibrous structure of the tree by the actual sap circulation of the tree, and treating said structure simultaneously with the impregnation to reduce and fix the toxic substance within the cellular and fibrous structure of the tree.

2. A method of protecting wood with a I substance toxic to animal and bacteria life and fungus growth, which consists in injecting into a living tree a toxic agent, permitting the toxic agent to be distributed throughout the entire cellular and fibrous structure of the tree b the natural sap circulation of the tree, an simultaneously impregnating said structure with a fixin cut to reduce and fix the toxic agent within t e cellular and fibrous structure of the tree, whereby the toxic agent and the fixing agent are applied to the tree b a single treatment of the latter.

3. A met od of protecting wood with a substance toxic to animal and bacteria life and fungus growth, which consists in injecting into a living tree a toxic agent, permit ting the toxic agent to be distributed throughout the entire cellular and fibrous structure of the tree by the natural sap circulation of the tree, said toxic agent bein in solution with a reducing agent, where y the toxic agent and the reducing or fixing agent are simultaneously distributed throughout the entire cellular and fibrous structure of the 0 tree by the natural sap circulation of the tree with a single treatment of the latter.

4. A method of protecting wood with a substance toxic to animal and bacteria life and fungus growth, which consists in injecting into a living tree a toxic agent, permitting the toxic agent to be distributed throughout the entire cellular and fibrous structure of the tree'by the natural sap circulation of the tree, said toxic agent being dissolved in a 0 volatile solvent by which the toxic agent is re-precipitated upon evaporation of the volatile solvent, whereby the toxic agent and a fixing agent are simultaneously distributed throughout the entire cellular and fibrous sys- 12.5 tem of the tree.

5. A method of protecting wood with a substance toxic to animal and bacteria life and fungus growth, which consists in injecting a solution of a copper compound into a livin tree and permittin the copper compoun% to be .distributed throughout the entire cellular and fibrous structure of the tree by the natural sap circulation of the tree,- said copper com ound being dissolved in a cellular and fibrous structure of the tree by the natural sap circulation of the tree, and by a singletreatment of the latter.

, CHARLES B. LIPMAN.

AARON GORDON. 

